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Italy confronts its toxic culture of violence against women

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

ROME — The killing of a 22-year-old student in Italy, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, has triggered a national outcry.Now even the country’s most entrenched political rivals — hard-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and left-wing opposition party leader Elly Schlein — have put aside their differences to campaign for change. This weekend, thousands of people are expected to gather in Rome and other major cities as part of what organisers say is a “revolution” under way in Italian attitudes to masculinity and violence against women and girls. A woman is murdered about once every three days in Italy. The national soul-searching followed the killing of Giulia Cecchettin, an engineering student at Padua university and the arrest of her former boyfriend Filippo Turetta. Tens of thousands took to the streets this week protesting Italy’s “patriarchal” culture and demanding the government improve women’s safety.Schlein extended an olive branch to Meloni over the issue, calli...

Quiz: Whose hair is it? Geert Wilders, Donald Trump, Javier Milei … or someone else?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutchman who won Wednesday’s parliamentary election in the Netherlands, is known for many things, namely his anti-Islam views, his calls for his country to leave the EU, his fiery rhetoric on migration … and his coiffed blond locks.He’s the second distinctive head of hair to win over voters this week, following the far-right, chainsaw-wielding Javier Milei who was elected Argentina’s new president on Sunday.Both have been compared to Donald Trump — in part for their brash speaking styles, in part for their distinctive hairstyles.But they’re not the only politicians with memorable manes.Take our quiz below to see if you can recognize the person from their hair.Whose hair this is?<p>Write their name below.</p>Donald TrumpDonald J. TrumpTrumpWhose hair this is?<p>Write their name below.</p>Boris JohnsonBorisJohnsonWhose hair this is?<p>Write their name below.</p>Kim Jong UnKimWhose hair this is?<p>Write their ...

Brussels wants to beat the Pentagon at its own game on arms sales

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

Brussels is studying how European governments can sell weapons as easily as the Americans do. In the wake of the Ukraine war, EU governments have significantly boosted military spending — but the juicy arms deals have often gone to U.S. defense contractors at the expense of European companies.In order to claw back the initiative, the European Commission is raising the prospect of copying the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) scheme — a system where the Pentagon does the heavy lifting in securing arms sales by using the combined muscle of America’s industrial might and the political advantages of ties with Washington.Europe doesn’t have any equivalent — which puts EU champions like Airbus, Leonardo and Thales at a disadvantage.The European Commission is trying to figure out how to change that, according to an eight-page consultation paper seen by POLITICO. “Should an EU equivalent of the U.S. FMS-scheme be considered, building on government-to-government schemes...

What to do with your food scraps post-Thanksgiving in San Diego

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Got leftover food scraps from Thanksgiving? The Environmental Services Department with the City of San Diego is advising the public to recycle organic waste.The new organic waste recycling program, which looks to achieve Zero Waste by 2040 and accelerate progress toward the City’s climate action goals, aims to recycle food scraps, food-soiled paper and yard trimmings, according to city officials."When organic waste is recycled, it becomes a renewable resource - creating compost to nourish our gardens, parks, farms, and open spaces, and even producing renewable natural gas that could be used for cooking, powering engines and more," the city said on its website. Optical phenomenon: Sundog spotted above San Diego County mountain range So, how do you recycle your food scraps?First, you place your food scraps (fruit, vegetables, meat, bones, eggshells and food-soiled paper) into a kitchen pail or other collection container. Then, you empty the container...

Coldest weekend in 8 months to generate Fall, 2023's second sticking snow late Saturday night and Sunday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

WGN WEATHER HEADLINESAn interesting comparison of seasonal snow to date through November 24th LAST YEAR vs. THIS YEAR (2023). These NWS analyses were posted this (Friday) morning 11/24 by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in the Twin Cities.COLDEST OFFICIAL LOW TEMPERATURE OF THE SEASON FRIDAY MORNINGLocal area temperature map of Friday morning lowsColdest WeatherBug low temperaturesA killing frost/freeze is defined as a temperature of 28° or colderFriday's 25° official low was the first 28° or colder of the cold season, three weeks later than the mean date of the first 28 or colder min temperature (November 4).Only 6 other years have gone this late in the Autumn season to record the season's first 28 or colder temperature: 1938 (November 24), 1924 (November 24), 1922 (November 24), 1931 (November 25), 1902 (November 28), and 1899 (December 3).NASA AND ITS INGENUITY HELICOPTEROne of the many HUGE successes for NASA in its far-reaching research of Mars has been the amazing...

HHSC whistleblowers on SNAP delays: 'We are sailing the Titanic filled with our most vulnerable citizens'

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The same whistleblowers who sparked Texas' Democratic Congressional delegation to call for a federal investigation into food benefit delays told KXAN on Friday the agency is headed for "disaster." "With our current agency leadership, we are sailing the Titanic filled with our most vulnerable citizens into certain disaster!," the anonymous "concerned staff" employees wrote.A series of emails sent to Gov. Greg Abbott and others, spanning several months, claim to be from employees with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, or SNAP, in Texas. The federal program helps low-income families buy groceries. The employees allege wait times of six months or more for people relying on food assistance. The federal standard is 30 days.The US Department of Agriculture is investigating HHSC and was in Austin recently to meet with staff, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, first told KXAN this week. On Thanksgivi...

Timberwolves hit by regression monster in home loss to Kings

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

Minnesota’s defense has indeed been dominant this season. And it obviously was not as good Friday against Sacramento.The Kings hung 120 on the Timberwolves to hand Minnesota its first loss of the season at Target Center, 124-111. Sacramento shot a blistering 50% from 3-point range, hitting 17 shots from deep.Sacramento (9-6) has the type of roster with a number of wings who are legitimate scoring threats. That puts Minnesota’s big-ball lineups in a bit of a bind on the defensive end. Those mismatches created some ease of offense for the Kings, which translated to a number of open looks that Sacramento buried.De’Aaron Fox led the way with 36 points and 12 assistsThe Kings shot better than they usually do from behind the arc, but Minnesota (11-4) was also likely due for such a night. Heading into the game, opponents were shooting just 27% against Minnesota on “open” 3-point shots. The Timberwolves’ general defensive aggression plays a role in that, ...

Nuggets end in-season tournament group stage, ghastly road trip with another loss to Rockets

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

HOUSTON — The Nuggets’ grueling five-game road trip, and their in-season tournament hopes and dreams, spiraled toward a crash landing Friday night at Toyota Center.After Nikola Jokic scored the first five points of the game, a 13-0 Rockets run snowballed into a 26-point Denver deficit and eventually a 105-86 loss, but not before the Nuggets made the Rockets nervous. Led by 38 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists from Jokic, the gap narrowed to single digits with nine minutes remaining but never got any closer than nine points.The Nuggets’ second loss in Houston this month concluded a 1-4 road trip in which their only win came against a Detroit team that had dropped 11 in a row. Next is a desperately needed matchup with the struggling Spurs on Sunday at Ball Arena, where no visiting team has won this season.The Nuggets (10-6) went 2-2 in the group stage of the inaugural in-season tournament after starting 2-0. The loss eliminated them in the final minutes due to Ho...

Man with pole arrested, accused of attacking people in San Bernardino

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

Authorities arrested a man with a pole accused of assaulting victims in San Bernardino.Officers responded to reports of the suspect attacking people with a pole and damaging property outside of a liquor shop on the 100 block of East Baseline Street.Body cam video from a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy shows witnesses pointing out the suspect down the street from the shop.As the officer spots the man walking around with the pole, he pulls over and asks the man to drop the weapon, but the suspect refuses. He charges toward the officer with the pole at one point, authorities said, before running away, leading the deputy on a foot chase.Deputies arrested a man with a pole accused of assaulting victims and damaging property in San Bernardino County. (San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)Deputies arrested a man with a pole accused of assaulting victims and damaging property in San Bernardino County. (San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)Deputies arrested a man with a po...

Stanford women advance to College Cup with overtime win over Nebraska

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:37 GMT

STANFORD — Giving up the tying goal with three minutes left in the second half of an NCAA quarterfinal may have deflated some teams. But it seemed only to inspire the second-seeded Stanford women’s soccer team.The Cardinal scored four minutes into overtime to beat No. 5 Nebraska 2-1 on Friday at Cagan Stadium and advance to their first College Cup since 2019.“I was proud of the character because to concede with three minutes left before you go to the College Cup, that’s kind of devastating,” Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. “They dealt with it well and they kept fighting and they got a great goal to win the game.”Nebraska (17-4-3) ended Stanford’s streak of 470 minutes without allowing a goal when it tied the game with 3:01 remaining in regulation. Goalkeeper Ryan Campbell came out to contest a long pass into the box, but Cornhuskers forward Sarah Weber got to the ball first and headed it into the net.“Obviously wasn’t the most ideal situation, but we knew that we had the r...